Episode 18: Dr. Whooves on the Daily Show

The news that something was indeed wrong with Trixie, just as she predicted and Jon feared, caused the wayward human to stagger backwards like a drunk, or a boxer having received a punch. He soon found himself having to place one hand on the nearby nightstand to help prop himself up, accidently knocking Trixie’s “get well soon” card to the ground.

Like before his heart was racing, which forced him to grab a hold of his chest and steady his breathing. No one said anything, with Trixie still in a state of shock herself, and the group of ponies who had initially entered the room respectfully giving Jon time to get situated. For anyone else, the sight of two armed guards, Unicorn doctors, the leader of the Mane Six, and Celestia, god of this world, would have been an intimidating group to have staring you down. But for Jon, his blind rage made it so he couldn't care less who was opposite of him.

“Yeah, you’re damn right there’s something wrong with Trixie!” Jon yelled at Celestia as he advanced towards her, once again earning him the two guard’s immediate attention. “She just told me she can’t use her magic!... W-what’s wrong with her!?”

“Jon my friend please, for this to continue I need you to lower your voice,” Celestia advised. “We’ll be more than willing to explain what’s going on with young Trixie here, but first I need you to restrain yourself.”

Something about her simple request made Jon even angrier. The way he saw it, Celestia had been keeping both he and Trixie in the dark about her medical condition, and was now telling him to calm down like it was nothing. His hand clenched into a fist and even from across the room the large group of ponies could hear him grinding his teeth.

Jon was moments away from yelling even louder when a soft hoof found its way on his hand. When he looked over he noticed that Trixie was now trying her best to physically hold him back, while sporting a look on her face that was a mixture of fear and concern.

“Jon... please,” she said as she motioned for him to sit down. He was fully willing and able to lay into Celestia about all that had just happened, with leftover rage that had been building up from when she would ignore his calls. But as he looked into Trixie’s eyes he soon found all that pent up anger melt away as he realized that his hatred for this awful situation was nowhere as powerful as his love for his Unicorn friend.

Sitting down he placed his arm around Trixie’s shoulder and gently pressed her head against his ribs. He realized how selfish it was of him to want to let go of his anger when his friend needed him now more than ever. After all, she was the one who was apparently still sick, not Jon; though hearing that his friend was not well made his stomach hurt.

“Thank you,” Celestia bowed her head.

“Whatever,” Jon sneered. “Just please... explain to me what’s going on.” She agreed and with that she motioned for everyone to move.

With the unpleasantness that was Jon’s outburst coming to an end, the ponies in the room spread out to their respective spots like a group of actors on a stage taking positions. The two guards stepped outside to guard the door while the doctor walked over towards Trixie’s side of the bed, with her nurse following close behind, as if they didn’t want to be on the same side as Jon.

Twilight, on the other hand, walked straight to Jon with a look in her eyes like she was ready to comfort him at any moment. This left Celestia still standing in the doorway, but soon even she found herself walking forward to address both he and Trixie. Their new positions were done for a comforting effect, as well as standby assistance, but it somewhat backfired since Jon now felt like he was being surrounded.

“Firstly let me just start by saying I’m sorry you had to find out this way... both of you,” Celestia continued, her tone mournful, which caused Jon to grab Trixie’s hoof, squeezing like he had no intention of letting go.

“Just tell us, Celestia,” Jon demanded. “Don’t spoon feed me here.”

“Very well... Trixie,” she added with a pause. “I’m afraid you’ve contracted a case of ‘Magic Clausus.’”

When the diagnosis was finally revealed everyone in the room either shuttered, or turned their head to avoid having to look the patient in the eyes, all but Jon himself, with the impact completely lost on him. Much like how a pony guest sometimes felt when watching his show and having a reference fly over their head. He was fully ready to handle anything she would say with a corresponding response of equal weight but once again his ignorance of pony culture just left him confused and unsure of how to proceed.

Again he felt frustrated; he couldn’t adequately comprehend the gravity of the situation. With infinite slowness Jon turned his head to address Trixie, while still keeping an eye on Celestia.

“Uh, honey?" Jon proceeded. "Any idea what--” His inquiry was cut short by the sight of his friend now staring downwards like she refused to look at anything but her bedsheet covers. Her expression conveyed that she was either about to cry but couldn't, like she was paralyzed, or that someone had just told her that she was about to die. The latter of which was not too far off.

In a panic he quickly looked away to request further information.

“W-what is ‘Magic Clausus!?’” Jon asked as he scouted the room for anyone who might be able to help him with no one willing to do so at first. He was about to yell out his question again with added volume when someone finally stepped up.

“It’s when a Unicorn is exposed to a large dosage of magic that is of a different composition than that of their own,” the female doctor known as Gallops said. “From there the imposing magic enters the host’s body and causes internal complications.”

Before Jon could comment, Celestia stepped forward so the two bedbound guests could hear her.

“Basically Trixie has been poisoned by magic,” she added. Confused, but mostly worried, Jon began to lock eyes with everyone in the room to see if anyone would say anything further. Once it was clear that this was the basis for why he was here he stood back up to address her majesty.

“W-what the hell do you mean she’s poisoned by magic!?” he asked in a loud though shaky tone. “How can she be-- I mean she’s a Unicorn! She controls magic! How can she be poisoned by it!?”

“By the same principle that a blood transfusion needs to be done with the same type of blood as the patient,” the doctor interjected before Celestia could answer the question. “Magic isn’t a single entity, there are different types for different ponies, like how the aura around a Unicorn’s horn is a different color for each pony. Invasive magic has infused itself into Trixie’s magicatory system and her body is now rejecting it.”

“... H-how... how does something like this even happen?” he asked, his grief induced mind unable to focus on the big picture.

Celestia was about to comfort him some more but then she remembered she was directed to not sugarcoat the issue.

“Well... remember when Queen Chrysalis tried to kill you with a magic blast of energy?” Celestia asked, letting the question hang in the air for Jon to catch up.

“Yeah I re--” Jon said, stopping midway as the events of that tragic day reminded him of how Trixie got here in the first place. “Oh no.”

“Yes, I’m afraid... when Trixie teleported in front of you to block her attack... she also got infected by her magic,” she continued as Jon found himself staggering backwards, like her very words were pushing him away.

“Usually a single output of magic isn't enough to infect somepony, which is why this disease is so rare. But in Trixie’s case Chrysalis' magic was so powerful that its energy merged with her,” Gallops added, sparing Celestia the torture of having to explain it herself. “At first, when the patient showed signs of not being able to use her magic, we assumed it was because she used it all teleporting both herself and you to Equestria. But after a week of her magic remaining dormant we suspected something might be wrong.”

“That’s right. And when that happened the princess asked for every medical book I had,” Twilight added, while both Jon and Trixie sat on the bed unable to move as they endured this continuously unfair information. “A Unicorn’s magic being rendered unusable is not something that happens everyday, so we had to look over every possible ailment ever recorded... that’s when we found a very rare disease by the name of Clausus.”

From there the room went so quiet that the guards, who were standing just outside, briefly peaked in to make sure everything was still alright. Out of respect for the situation’s delicate nature, the ponies in the room stayed silent as Jon and Trixie processed this information. From there the medical team assumed Trixie would be next to start asking questions, but once again it was Jon who continued to carry the conversation.

“What are the symptoms?” Jon asked. “What will happen to her if left untreated?”

Everyone in the room, from Twilight to the doctor, had taken turns explaining to Jon about what was going on, in some aspect. But this was the part they had been dreading, the part where they had to explain what Trixie’s fate was, a fate they already knew what the end result would be.

After asking his question the room was once again taken over by a ceaseless bout of silence, with no one pony wanting to say anything. Twilight tried but words refused to leave her mouth, even the trained doctor and nurse who had experience with this sort of situation found themselves unable to continue. Jon was moments away from asking again when someone did eventually speak up; this time it was Celestia who took control of the moment, volunteering herself to break the news and become the new object of hate for Jon.

“The current symptom, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, is that Trixie will no longer be able to use her magic. Queen Chrysalis’ own magic is now flowing within her, completely jamming her magicatory system,” she answered, causing Jon to tighten his grip on Trixie’s hoof. “From there the infectious magic will spread throughout her body, slowly poisoning her organs, muscles, mind, immune system, and other internal processes. As long as Chrysalis’ dark magic resides in her... her body will slowly shut down.”

Either Trixie was incredibly strong or overcome with fear because throughout the entire deliberation she remained both silent and still. Jon on the other hand was not so reverent. Slowly he stood up from his bed, mildly startling those in the room as he displayed his greater height.

“Is there a cure?” Jon asked, his eyes closed and head tilted down. “Are you doing anything to help her get over this thing?”

Like before no one was eager to answer his question; but were uncomfortable in sharing their knowledge. Jon could sense the hesitation in the room and in response lifted his head and opened his eyes to look at Celestia, those eyes begging her to speak the words he wanted to hear. But sadly, he got just the opposite.

“I’m afraid... there’s nothing we can do for her from a medical perspective,” Celestia said, causing Jon to once again close his eyes and tilt his head. “This disease is so rare that we don’t have much information on it, so no... there is no cure. The best thing we can do for her at this stage of the disease’s development is to make her as comfortable as possible.”

To everyone watching it just looked like Jon was standing still, unable to move, but to the trained eye it would be very evident that in fact he was indescribably furious. Jon took a deep breath and had Trixie been paying attention she would have noticed and immediately realized this and tried her best to comfort him before he erupted. Although since she had just come face to face with her own mortality she could do nothing but remain stationary as Jon exploded forth like a pitbull having chewed through its own leash.

“HOW THE HELL CAN YOU JUST SAY THAT!?” Jon yelled so loudly the nurse pony in the room fell backwards in shock. “You’re just going to give up on her!?”

With each step forward Jon’s anger rose, causing everypony in the room to immediately head him off by stepping in front of Celestia. The first to get inbetween the angry human and the princess were the two guards who thought this very scenario might happen.

“Mr. Stewart I’m afraid I’m going to need you to please calm down!” one of the guards said in a firm tone, but to no prevail.

“Just how long did you know about this but didn't feel the need to tell me!?” he continued to roar, with Celestia standing tall and not showing any sign of emotions. “And now you’re telling me you’re not going to do anything about it! I mean what the hell kind of hospital are you people running here!?”

“Mr. Stewart please!” the assistant nurse implored. “We’re doing the best we can to help your friend but--”

“Well apparently not because from what I understand she will die no matter what!” he yelled. “Actually, I bet you like that she’s staying here in her condition! Bet you're making a good profit off of her or something!” To emphasize his anger he walked up to the nurse so he could look down on her. In response, the two guards forced their way to the forefront of the group to show that they were in control of the situation. It looked as if they were about to ready their weapons when Twilight ran to the side to try and defuse the situation.

“Guards stop! There’s no need for violence, please lower your weapons!” she begged as she turned her attention to her human friend. “Jon I realize this is very difficult for you but please! We need you to calm down!”

Unfortunately Jon’s anger was diverse and knew no exception.

“I don’t NEED to calm down!” he challenged. “What I need is for someone other than myself to actually give a damn about what happens to Trixie here!”

“Jon please!” Twilight begged. “That’s not--”

“No! If you think I’m going to stand here and just let you people do absolutely nothing then you’re crazy!” he exploded as he pushed past those in front of him, accidently stepping on the hooves of the Pony nurse. After bulldozing his way through he got close enough to Celestia that he was able to point a finger at her face. “And you! I don’t care if you are the god of this world! If you don’t do something to help her then I’m going to--”

“JON STOP, PLEASE!” a voice called out. Up until now every pony who tried to reason with him was met with even more hostility, but this time something different happened. It was as if the words uttered were the secret to calming him down, but in fact it was who said it that made him halt his onslaught.

Turning behind him, Jon saw that Trixie had awoken from her trance and was now looking at Jon with tearful eyes. Seeing this caused Jon to set aside his anger and rush towards her, accidentally stepping on and over the pony nurse in the process.

“Baby girl, are you okay!?” Jon asked as he gently began to rub her head while wiping away her tears.

“Please... please stop yelling at them Jon... you’re going to get in trouble.” She sniffed.

“But sweety, don’t you see!?” he asked. “These ponies are not going to help you! They’re just going to leave you here and watch you die!”

Before he could continue his smearing Jon was halted by Trixie quickly throwing her hoof forward, slapping him across the face. Even in her weakened state she could still apply enough force to cause him some pain and silencing him in the process.

“Stop this Jon! Listen to what you’re saying! They wouldn't do that, they’re doing the best they can!” Trixie challenged. “I know this is hard but... the reality here is... like the princess said... there’s nothing more they can do.”

“B-but Trixie,” Jon said. “If we do nothing then you’ll...  I’ll lose you.”

“I know and I’m sorry,” Trixie said. “But... I think I’m ready.”

“R-ready for what?” he asked.

“I think... no... I know I’m ready,” she added. “I’m ready to die.”